90 Minutes of Perfection :: essays research papers

90 Minutes of Perfection Any pain to be suffered comes first. Instinctively you fight to live. The conscious mind does not believe any other reality could possibly exist beside the earth. We have been trained since birth to live. Life tells us who we are and we accept it’s telling. Your body wants to live and will fight to survive. Your body goes limp. Your heart stops. No more air flows in or out. You lose sight, feeling, and movement – although the ability to hear goes last. Identity ceases. The "you" that you once were becomes only a memory. There is no pain at the moment of death. Only peaceful silence. . . calm. . . quiet. But you still exist. It is easy not to breathe. In fact, it is easier and more comfortable not to breathe than to breathe. The biggest surprise for most people in dying is to realize that dying does not end life. Whether darkness or light comes next, or some kind of event, be it positive, negative, or somewhere in-between, expected or unexpected, the biggest su rprise of all is to realize you are still you. You can still think, you can still remember, you can still see, hear, move, reason, wonder, feel, question, and tell jokes. You are still alive, very much alive. â€Å"Actually, you're more alive after death than at any time since you were last born. Only the way of all this is different; different because you no longer wear a dense body to filter and amplify the various sensations you had once regarded as the only valid indicators of what constitutes life.†(Atwater) You had always been taught one has to wear a body to live. â€Å"The only thing dying does is help you release, slough off, and discard the "jacket" you once wore.†(Atwater) When you die you lose your body. That's all there is to it. Nothing else is lost. Don Piper is someone that died. He was in an accident where he was hit head on by an 18-wheeler on a small bridge over the Trinity River. When emergency personnel found no pulse he was covered up and was waiting on the justice of the peace to pronounce him dead. â€Å"Piper remembers nothing of the accident, but everything about heaven.† (Vara) While he was dead, Piper experiences this unimaginable trip to heaven and titled his book 90

Compare and Contrast role model: Richard Dawkins Essay

When choosing a role model according to my Christian worldview there are several positions taken into account. Their position and belief on Sexuality, Social Issues, and the Nature of God are areas in which our agreeing or disagreeing is a major contributing factor throughout the decision making process. Because of our foundational beliefs, Richard Dawkins does not meet the most lenient of qualifications according to my Christian worldview in order to serve as a role model. According to my Christian worldview a role model can be defined as a person whose belief system being based upon their acceptance that God is the creator of the universe, has sent his only begotten Son as the sacrifice for sin, and trusting the Holy scriptures are the inerrant and infallible word of God. Richard Dawkins once stated, Genetic engineering is important for the future of the human species and that our emerging technology of altering certain human cells will affect individual gene pool in order to dictate human behavior and gender (Harris, 1984). This statement implies humankind posses the knowledge of what it takes to create a person and to determine their sexual behavior outside of the Christian worldview. In believing human behavior has a genetic basis whereby altering specific genes we can create individual as we see fit is the very premises that Adolf Hitler used when attempting to create a master race. Professor Dawkins believes the possibility of engineering human being exist where my Christian worldview says, biblical scriptures provide the necessary truth on God not only creating humankind but also that Gods Holy Spirit will affect human behavior without gene manipulation. The Christian worldview beliefs on sexual behavior differ from Professor Dawkins suggesting it is genetically based. Christianity teaches, humanity was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), God determines the gender of a child, and God has the ability to change the deviant behavior of people. As I continued efforts towards invalidating Richard Dawkins as a possible role model his questionable stance on abortion came to mind as I read an article entitled â€Å"Abortion and Dawkins’ Fallacious Account of the So-called ‘Great Beethoven Fallacy’. The article discussed Professor Dawkins ethical and moral understanding on abortion as it relates to the Great Beethoven Fallacy and religion. Though he bible does not speak about aborting a child directly, scripture does make a distinction between killing as a result of an act of God and killing as a result of premeditation (Exodus 21:12). Christianity foundational belief in Jesus and the teachings of Jesus stands against all forms and efforts to stop procreation among humankind. God while speaking words of encouragement to Jeremiah says, â€Å"Before you were in the belly I formed you and before you came out I gave you purpose or a reason for living† (Jeremiah 1:5). In other words, the Christian worldview stands against supporting abortion or any form of human population control efforts that cause the death of Gods children. Professor Dawkins opinion differs from a person sharing in the Christian worldview by claiming, â€Å"The measuring stick for abortion is the suffering of the fetus (McLachlan, 2009). Professor Dawkins proposing questions such as â€Å"Does the pregnant woman or the family suffer† is immaterial when God identifies with the fetus before the birthing process begins. In addition to the fetus or the family suffering in respect to aborting the child, consideration was also placed on the mental aspects of the family. For instance, terminating pregnancy due to psychological issues, health of parents or number of children could also be a deciding factor in aborting the child. The final area used to rule out the possibility of Professor Dawkins serving as a role model for me or anyone with a Christian worldview was his foundational belief concerning the existence and nature of God. Professor Dawkins book entitled The God Delusion, characterization of God in saying, â€Å"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak, a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogymstic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, fihcidal, pestilential, megalomamacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully (Baker, 2009, p. 75). † During his childlike rant Dawkins proved, he was incapable of serving as a role model to anyone whose foundational belief was Christianity. By questioning Gods absolute authority, Dawkins implied God was unable to judge humankind righteously. A person with a limited understanding of scripture yet posses the Christian worldview may feel challenged as they read Dawkins statement of God as being jealous. In all actuality the Biblical scriptures contained in the book of Exodus speaks of God being jealous but not in the context of Professor Dawkins statement. By definition, Dawkins reasoning meant someone that is envious of another because of his or her achievements and advantages. The difference in Dawkins definition of jealousy and the Holy Scripture is in the interpretation of Exodus 20:5, which does not pertain to the sin of jealously but rather the act of giving someone else something (Worship) that only belongs to God. In closing, Professor Richard Dawkins is not a person I would choose to be a role model based on the following facts, his belief that gene manipulation will determine the outcome of human behavior as compared to my believing God created us individually without gene manipulation. Professor Dawkins stance for supporting abortion says the measuring stick should be the suffering of the fetus, mother and father, as compared to my believing God identifies with us before we are formed in the mother’s womb. Finally, the argument that nullifies any chance that Professor Dawkins meet the qualification of serving as my role model was his characterizing God as having the same sinful nature of humanity.

Comparisons On The Advocacies Of Henry Thoreau vs Dr....

There is a higher law than civil law- the law of conscience- and that when these laws are in conflict, it is a citizens duty to obey the voice of God within rather than that of the civil authority without, (Harding 207). As Harding described in his brief explanation of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience, there are some instances in which it is necessary to disobey a social law. Martin Luther King, Jr., in addition to Thoreau, reasoned that should a civil law be judged unjust, one had a moral obligation not only to himself but also to those around him to disregard that particular law in exchange for a higher one voiced by God. The idea of challenging an unreasonable law is central to both King, Jr.s and Thoreaus plights, though†¦show more content†¦First we are told in Civil Disobedience to make every effort to disconnect ourselves from the unjust system of ruling, and then we are told in Walden that very few of us are actually capable of any thought warranted as intellectual. Thoreau sets himself apart from King, Jr. by making himself a moving target. Although King, Jr. took many steps beyond Thoreaus advocacies of civil disobedience, his actions rang true to the central theme of standing powerfully, and non-violently, against an unjust system of government. Both advocated disconnecting oneself from social law as to better follow the divine laws set forth by God, and despite the great diversity in which each man carried out his beliefs, the underlying fact still remains: we cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong (Alexander Bickel), the distinction between just and unjust rests on the shoulders of mankind and it remains the duty of each individual to act accordingly. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau 2. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE by Henry David Thoreau 3. LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL by Martin Luther King